From January 1, 2025, customs and VAT on the import of electric cars from abroad will be restored in Ukraine. The absence of these taxes was one of the key factors in the popularization of electric cars in the country. About this reported Stanislav Buchatskyi, head of the Institute of Car Market Research.
According to him, there are two main reasons for the growing popularity of electric cars among Ukrainians. The first is an increase in the supply of electric cars on the secondary market. Most of these cars are imported from abroad, where the electric car market is actively developing. Since we are talking about used cars, their cost is much lower than that of new ones. This makes them more accessible to Ukrainians.
“If we talk about the most popular brands and models, we see that Ukrainians are very actively buying used Teslas. And most of these Teslas, more than 80%, came from the United States of America, from auctions. That is, these are the so-called “batteries” that were previously in a road accident. They are simply brought to Ukraine, repaired, restored and, accordingly, used.” – noted the specialist.
The second reason for the growing popularity of electric cars, the expert called zero customs clearance, which has been in effect since 2018. Buchatsky reminded that when importing cars with an internal combustion engine, it is necessary to pay 10% customs duty, 20% VAT and excise duty.
Instead, a much simplified mechanism operated for electric cars: the amount of the fee was calculated according to the formula of 1 euro per 1 kW of battery capacity, which in practice amounts to about 100–200 euros.
However, as Buchatsky noted, zero customs clearance will be canceled from January 1, 2025. Therefore, to import electric cars, Ukrainians will have to pay both customs duty and VAT.
